Improving performance together benefits business

Rio Tinto's Improving performance together (IPT) programme is making impressive progress on the road to business improvement. It reflects our long standing commitment to operational excellence. In that sense, IPT is business as usual.

This time, the deep tracks of IPT mark a profound and permanent transformation in the way the Group operates, both in its business culture and organisational structure. Through a process of collaboration between business units across the globe, best practice is being identified and multiplied across the Group's operations. This is being locked in by integrating IPT into the organisational structure.

An excellent example of IPT methods at work is the collaboration in 2006 to extend the life of heavy vehicle tyres used so widely across the Group. Today, high levels of demand for the big treads make it harder and more costly than ever to replace them. Getting to grips with this, a tyre taskforce and thousands of employees around the Group achieved a 18 per cent increase over 2005 in the life of large truck tyres used in Group mines. New tyre fitments ran at 30 per cent below the 2006 plan.

With new heavy mobile equipment tyres costing up to US$160,000 each, this translates into savings of more than US$60 million. And it has been done without compromising safety.

Working with a key supplier, Michelin, the tyre taskforce developed a view of the supply and demand balance for Rio Tinto. A centralised tyre procurement team was created to source used tyres, and a retread programme was started which included building a new facility in Perth, Western Australia.

A site review process was also developed. With the support of tyre specialists from across the Group, the tyre taskforce visited the biggest tyre using sites for initial reviews and to identify and share leading practices.

Key issues of heat separation, tread cut and side wall damage were tackled. Surfaces of haul roads were improved, bends in roads reduced and dump design altered to minimise the impact on tyres.

The review process also covered operator and driver awareness when loading and driving; managing tyre performance through regular checks; heat and weight studies; safe and effective maintenance practices; and risk management.

Communication campaigns followed at most sites and employees at all levels became involved in protecting tyres. The project continued to grow. Soon business units were sharing specific leading practices and ideas with each other. People responsible for tyre performance used online forums to share tips and techniques. The practice in the US of using chains on loading units to protect front tyres has spread to most Australian sites. In return, Australian sites were able to share information on heat studies they had conducted.

The tyre taskforce reviewed tyre management practices at 25 sites, and 85 per cent of recommended actions were found to have been implemented. An online tyre forum has had 3,000 hits from 137 members.

Greg Finch, who manages tyre demand within the Group, sums up what this makes IPT mean in practice: "An important aspect is that people were able to move between sites to facilitate discussion and carry ideas across. We tell everyone to remember that there's always another mine next door. To talk to peers, break down barriers and share information. It is likely no one will need to develop a leading practice - it will already be out there."